Venezuelan Guasacaca Recipes

Steps:

• Add the cilantro, parsley, avocado flesh, lime zest and juice, garlic, jalapeno, onion and bell pepper to the bowl of a food processor and pulse 4 or 5 times until finely chopped. With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil and process until completely smooth. Adjust the consistency with up to 4 tablespoons water if needed. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a bowl and serve immediately. A perfect addition to a beautifully seared hanger steak.

Steps:

• Add the cilantro, oil, onions, bell peppers, hot sauce, mustard, serrano peppers, garlic, lemon juice, salt, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and sugar to a bowl and mix with an immersion blender until the ingredients are combined but the sauce is still chunky. In a separate bowl, mash the avocados. Add to the sauce and gently combine the ingredients well.
• Serve immediately with empanadas, or transfer to an airtight container with the avocado pits, to slow down oxidation of the avocados.
• Recipe courtesy of Pica Pica, LLC
• Add the cilantro, oil, onions, bell peppers, hot sauce, mustard, serrano peppers, garlic, lemon juice, salt, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and sugar to a bowl and mix with an immersion blender until the ingredients are combined but the sauce is still chunky. In a separate bowl, mash the avocados. Add to the sauce and gently combine the ingredients well.
• Serve immediately with empanadas, or transfer to an airtight container with the avocado pits, to slow down oxidation of the avocados.
• Recipe courtesy of Pica Pica, LLC

Steps:

• Put everything except the olive oil into a food processor and process until mostly smooth. Add the olive oil in a stream with the processor running and process until smooth. Let stand at room temperature for at least 1 hour for the flavors to blend. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve sauce at room temperature with meats, fish, or vegetable chips. If made in advance, store, covered, in the refrigerator, but bring to room temperature before serving.

Steps:

• Chop by hand, all the vegetables.
• And the remaining ingredients and mix together.
• Chill for at least 3-hours.
• Serve as a dip for nacho chips or as a salsa with anything.

Steps:

• Chop the avocados and the green pepper and place in a bowl with the chopped onion.
• Finely chop the garlic and chile pepper and add to the onions and avocado.
• Add the vegetable oil, vinegar, tomato, and the cilantro or parsley and toss gently.
• If you prefer a smoother guasacaca, add all the ingredients to a blender or food processor, and process until smooth.

Steps:

• Put all ingredients in blender
• Add some of the reserved water .
• Blend on coarse setting for 20 seconds.
• Stir, then repeat 2 more times, adding water if neccesary.
• You want a creamy and not watery consistency with very small chunks. It should be able to go through a "ketcup-like sqeezy bottle" (technical term).
• If you want avocado for a creamier version, just add one.

Steps:

• Combine everything except olive oil in food processor. Process until mostly smooth. Continue processing while adding olive oil in a steady stream, until fully emulsified and smooth.
• Scrape into a serving bowl and let stand at room temperature 1 hour to allow flavors to blend. Serve over grilled meats, fish or vegetables, or with chips. Store in refrigerator, but bring to room temperature before serving.
• To use as a dip, I recommend adding finely diced red bell pepper and tomato for texture. Remove tops and bottoms from two red bell peppers. Cut into 3 or 4 planks by cutting alongside the ribs; discard the ribs and seeds. Cut into 1/8" julienne, then cut across into 1/8" dice (this very fine dice is called brunoise). Remove the seeds, jelly and internal ribs from two ripe Roma tomatoes using a grapefruit spoon. Repeat the brunoise procedure. Stir the diced red pepper and diced tomato into the guascaca.

Steps:

• Combine first 9 ingredients in a large bowl; toss mixture gently.
• Cover and refrigerate 3 hours.
• Stir in avocado and remaining ingredients just before serving.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 425 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine 1/4 cup oil and grate in 2 garlic cloves using a zester. Add the carrots and toss to coat. Lightly season with salt and black pepper and transfer to a sheet pan, reserving the garlic oil in the bowl. Add the chicken to the bowl and coat with the remaining garlic oil. Arrange in a single layer on the sheet pan skin-side up between the carrots.
• Roast until carrots are tender, and chicken is cooked through with crispy skin that's browned in spots, 35 to 40 minutes.
• While the chicken cooks, in a food processor or blender or using a mortar and pestle, combine the avocado, jalapeño, vinegar, lime zest and juice, remaining garlic clove, half the chopped parsley and cilantro, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Purée or pound into a coarse mixture. With the machine running or while mixing with a pestle in a mortar, slowly drizzle in the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil and 1 tablespoon room temperature water. Purée or stir until the sauce is smooth and creamy. Taste and adjust the seasoning with additional salt if necessary. The sauce can be made a few hours in advance and refrigerated in an airtight container.
• Scatter the remaining 1/2 cup each parsley and cilantro over the chicken and carrots. Transfer to individual plates along with any pan juices. Spoon a few tablespoons of the guasacaca sauce on the side for dipping. Serve warm with additional sauce on the side.

Steps:

• Cut the cheese into 3-inch-long planks, then cut them into sticks. Ideally, each one would be 1/2-by-1/2-by-3 inches but the shape of your cheese will dictate the dimensions and number of sticks. If the cheese is hard and crumbles easily, you may want cut it into wider rectangular planks instead of sticks. If using white cheese for frying or mozzarella, heavily salt the cheese, then place on a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet and let the liquid release while you prepare the dough.
• Working with one empanada disc at a time (keep the rest stacked with their liners, or they'll start to dry out the when you separate them), cut it into six 1-inch-wide strips. Remove the liners in between the discs and reserve them; they will come in handy if storing the tequeños later.
• Fill a small bowl with water. Dab water onto one end of each of the 2 shortest strips, overlap and press them together to create a strip that's as long as one of the remaining four strips.
• Spread the strips out, then dab the ends of one with water and slightly flatten. Place a cheese stick on the strip at an angle and wrap to cover the top of the cheese, pinching if necessary. Once the top is secure, wrap the dough around the stick, overlapping as you go, until the whole stick is covered with no cheese peeking through. You may need to pull and slightly stretch the dough to completely cover the end of the cheese stick. Cut off any excess dough and reserve it to patch up other tequeños, if necessary. If you need to attach another half strip with some water to completely seal, do so. Give the stick a very gentle roll and a tap on either end to seal. Repeat with the remaining cheese and discs. Depending on which cheese you use, you may have discs leftover. Save these for another use.
• The wrapped tequeños can be stacked in an airtight container, each layer separated with the reserved liners, and frozen for up to 3 months or they can be fried immediately.
• If frying right away, heat 2 inches of oil in a medium heavy-bottomed pot to 325 degrees F. Place a couple of tequeños in the oil, making sure not to overcrowd the pan. Fry, flipping once or twice, until golden brown and crisp, about 4 minutes. Bring the oil back up to the correct temperature in between batches.
• Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel-lined plate and sprinkle with salt. Let cool slightly before serving with the guasacaca, for dipping.
• Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Taste for seasoning and add more salt or sugar, if necessary. The guasacaca can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Makes 1 3/4 cups.